100 Things That Made My Year - 2015

 Inspired by Austin Kleon's list, I made my own for 2014. I aim to make this an annual "event." Here goes:

1. Celebrating the New Year with these wonderful folks
2. Spending half the year with the likes of Horatio, Claudio, and my bundle of Dr. Faustus characters
3. Going on a second tour with the American Shakespeare Center with this crew.
4. Seeing Birdman in a cool, little art house in Harrisonburg
5. Getting snowed in at Murray State
6. Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
7. Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
8. Punch Brothers album: Phosphorescent Blues
9. When those llamas escaped and there was a giant chase for them and Twitter exploded. I'll never forget that.
10. Hopping on the upright bass for music in the ASC shows
11. Grilling in Texas in February
12. Winning Settlers of Catan two times in a row
13. My brother got married!
14. The bamboo watch my brother gave me for said wedding
15. Alabama Shakes concert
16. Renting my first car and taking a solo trip to Rehoboth Beach
17. Seeing Man and Superman NT Live screening
18. When authors of books I read tweet back to me
19. Punch Brothers concert in Nashville
20. Following the commentary and progress of the Morning News Tournament of Books - the discussion on reading, literature, aesthetics, and taste is fascinating
21. Exploring Austin, TX
22. This ridiculous chocolate raspberry food truck doughnut (called the "Razzle Dazzle")
23. Abandoning books
24. Eating the best french toast of my life at The Table in Asheboro, NC
25. Attending a party in Alan Cumming's dressing room
26. Mad Max Fury Road
27. Finishing up a 1000-piece puzzle
28. Revisiting Baltimore on tour
29. A University of Houston reunion in the Bronx (after a performance of Earnest).
30. The Great British Bake Off
31. Exploring Lexington, Kentucky (and the Buffalo Trace distillery)
32. Hamilton
33. George Saunders gives us a glimpse of his writing education
34. The Star Hill Hopfetti beer
35. What We Do in the Shadows
36. Broad City
37. Running into Daniel Stock during a random layover in Atlanta
38. Ticking off my list of Shakespeare I've never performed or seen live: (Henry V, 1 Henry VI, Antony & Cleopatra)
39. This GQ Stephen Colbert profile is fantastic
40. My grad school acting teacher, Jack Young, was able to make it to the closing weekend of our spring season. Got to see a bunch of his former students in Hamlet and Much Ado about Nothing.
41. The Mad Men finale
42. This video of Mambo
43. Homeland season 4 with the great Stephen Brunson
44. Going head-to-head with the great Josh Innerst on stage, both in Julius Caesar and The Importance of Being Earnest 
45. Developing music arrangements/covers with the Dangerous Dreams troupe--notably the Always Drinking Marching Band cover of "Anarchy in the UK." 
46. The dance scene in Ex Machina
47. My socks in Earnest​
48. Burlington, Vermont (fancy cocktails, an expensive-but-worth-it burger, the Skinny Pancake, indie bookstores, coffeeshops galore, the waterfront, it's a marvelous city)
49. Journaling
50. Tame Impala's Currents album
51. Running with Patrick Earl to Daytona Beach and back (in the rain)--8 miles in total
52. Starting and quickly quitting NaNoWriMo has made me think about what stories I have to tell
53. Thanksgiving Brunch with the game of Life afterward (shout-out to Sarah, Josh, Rene, Cordell, and Patrick)
54. Sauna time at the Best Western in Canton, NY
55. On the Town and Disgraced on Broadway
56. The So Many Damn Books podcast
57. So many of my good theatre friends had fantastic work this year (or booked fantastic work)--I only wish I could have seen it all
58. Making the switch to Spotify Premium. I'll never turn back
59. This NYT profile on Terry Gross
60. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
61. Watching DCI semifinals and quarterfinals from the comforts of my living room
62. Testing the waters with the Wheel of Time book
63. Thai Staunton 
64. Why is so much of design school a waste of time? An exploration on learning to fail, collaborating, giving/receiving criticism, listening. It's fantastic.
65. Meeting playwright David Davalos (he wrote Wittenberg)
66. This Longform podcast with Cheryl Strayed
67. The Coconut Reaper beer at Redbeard's
68. Taking another plunge into Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
69. The little kids (with a few exceptions) who come to see A Christmas Carol with their families
70. My directors: Jim, Kevin, and Ben. Y'all challenged and supported in wondrous ways.
71. Hiking in New York's north country
72. Naps
73. When family sends me pictures of Samson
74. Taking a ferry and getting tipsy
75. The Blackfriars Conference
76. Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
77. Managing to not get sick during the 30-some performances of A Christmas Carol
78. Gearing up to hustle as an actor. Much of my 2016 is open-ended.
79. The Wiz live (shout-out to Poole and Rene)
80. Master of None on Netflix
81. BIRP.FM
82. My car died this year. The thing that's great about it: I'm not pouring money into fixing it.
83. The Winter's Tale at the ASC was absolutely fantastic
84. Condensing/organizing my grad school materials
85. The cake my parents arranged for my birthday. I'll never forget the (radioactive) blue frosting.
86. Jamie xx's In Colour album
87. Dogs, particularly: Harper, Pansy, Rugby, Tucker, Ajax, and Rocky (R.I.P.)
88. Sarah Fallon's bowling birthday party
89. Revisiting beloved shows (The West Wing and 30 Rock mainly)
90. My slow cooker
91. Singing and playing for Andrew and Kendra's wedding. What an honor
92. That steak at their wedding reception was ginormous and delicious
93. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
94. A Bit of Fry and Laurie: Flexibility of Language
95. Having my Mom, Dad, and bro Dan visit Staunton at the end of the year
96. Driving to Sheetz on Christmas Day when they arrived in town late at night
97. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: Downtown
98. On the last day of 2015, I FINALLY ate at the Indian buffet in Staunton.
99. My favorite (new-t0-me) Twitter accounts: Benjamin Dreyer, Duchess Goldblatt, and Paraic O'Donnell
100. There's this sense--I can't quite put my finger on it--but my friends and strangers alike are committed to rolling up their sleeves, doing the work, and spreading gratitude and love. It is work. But I continually see the effort and the kindness online and in person (too many examples to count here). While I may not always respond accordingly, it doesn't go unnoticed and it's often invigorating. It reminds me of the poem "A Brief for the Defense" by Jack Gilbert. We must risk delight.